“Agreed.” Thorne snapped in his clip and strapped on his holster. “Until he’s got the signs down, we do a shitty job. When he has them, we perform and get the fuck out of here.”
“You realize what that will mean with Buyers here today?” Kane asked. He wasn’t arguing against it. I could see in his eyes that he knew Thorne and I were right. But he also knew what I knew. If they all failed,they’d be punished in the Yard while I was taken to Room 82.
I nodded firmly. “It’s fine. I’m used to it. Let’s just keep Rafe alive.”
Thorne let go of a heavy breath, Kane’s jaw flexing before they both spun away and strode toward the entry of the first building.
Rafe wasn’t oblivious to the conversation, but it was clear he couldn’t make out what we were whispering to each other. His scowl was deep as he strapped on his rifle and knives. I trudged toward the building, knowing what fate I was choosing and reminding myself it was the best choice. No matter what pain came to me, I was saving someone I cared about. Ineededthat to still mean something.
“Positions!” a commander yelled.
I glanced at Rafe, finding him eyeing me as we climbed the steps to the second story. He lifted a hand, surprising me when he signed,Okay?
I forced a wobbling smile. “Just do your best. We’ll cover you,” I promised.
“There are eight targets in the village. Finish them within twenty minutes,” the commander said through the crackling walkie talkie I’d clipped to my belt.
I held up eight fingers to Rafe, then followed it by signingtwenty minutes. He nodded, and I hoped he understood. I watched him dip through the open window of the barren upper story room and hit the fire escape to get roof access.
We were…terrible. Really, truly terrible. The commander’s threats were a sharp shout through our talkies as Kane, Thorne and I found each other four buildings in. We’d only killed two of the eight targets, both taken out by Rafe, and there was only five minutes left.
“We need to do one thing right,” Kane ordered. “At this point, they’ll buy Rafe, the dick. Hecouldn’t just suck?”
“In his defense, we didn’t tell him what we were doing,” Thorne argued. “We probably should’ve.”
“And he never would’ve agreed,” Kane hissed. “Bastard would’ve outperformed us ten times over if it meant selling himself alone and keeping Arden out of that room.”
I stiffened, and it was then that the brothers seemed to remember I was standing there. “Can we just get this over with?” I asked, my voice uneven. I swallowed and tugged my gun out of my holster. “The two Rafe took out were likely the easiest targets. Halden had them tied up and in sight of a window. The rest will be more difficult. We fan out, kill one each. We only have three minutes.”
There wasn’t time to argue, so we didn’t. They followed my instruction with ease, all of us kicking in separate doors and disappearing into hallways.
I shot a man gagged and bound, hanging from a ceiling, twice. Once to the heart, and once to the head. I didn’t want to risk him being alive in any capacity. We were already leaving three targets alive, and I knew Halden didn’t have anything pretty waiting for them. Asiren blared through the village, lights flashing to notify us of our time being out.
We were right. They took me to Room 82. There were no boxes. No lighter. No gun. Just me, that mattress, and the Buyers.
I collapsed when the guards shoved me into the cell hours, maybe days, later. I had no way of keeping time in that damned room. They threw down a fresh set of grey clothes on my bed before they stepped over me and bolted the door shut behind them. I laid there on the ground, blood dribbling from my mouth, dizzy as I listened to the bunks creak.
“Little flame?” Thorne rasped from his bed.
I couldn’t answer. I’d let myself scream that time around. There was awhile where I hadn’t. I thought maybe if I kept my mouth shut, I wouldn’t egg the Buyers on, but they were cruel no matter what. I figured I may as well let my rage out while I was allowed to.
I rolled enough to press my good ear to the cool stone floor. I didn’t want to talk to them, and based on the fact none of them were attempting to leave their beds told me they were in bad shape, too. Shock rolled through me when the air shifted and familiar hands slipped under my body. Rafe lifted me into a cradle, limping back to his bed and gently setting me down. He laid next to me, pressing a firm kiss to the top of my head. He held his mouth there for a long moment, and I felt something hot drip to my cheek. I reached a shaking hand up and realized it was tears. My own eyes burned, and I took his arm, tugging him closer. He caged me in, tracing gentle patterns across my bruised skin.
Still, somehow, I managed to teach him different signs. He tried to stop me, to force me to rest, but I shook my head, bringing his hand to my swollen mouth.
“Promise me,” I whispered against him, “you’ll let us keep helping you. Promise me, Rafe.”
Tap.No.
My chin trembled. “I can’t lose you,” I breathed. “I’m begging you. Do this for me.”
No. He tapped more forcefully.NO.
Tears finally slipped free. “I can handle whatever they do to me. You just need a couple more days to learn the signs.”
He pressed his forehead to mine and sloped his hand down my neck, tapping me once lightly over my heart.No.
I moved closer and grasped his face. He kept his hand over my mouth and I kissed it gently, closing my eyes. “Then tomorrow,” I said against him, “we live or we die.”
